In this episode of Editorial, Mr. Sujit Nair discusses pressing issues in education and housing. Recent reports have flagged concerns regarding the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana and the state of education in the country. Mr. Nair questions why the government continues to launch schemes without adequate planning. He also highlights the declining student enrollment rates and the insufficient budget allocation for the education sector.
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[00:00:00] Namaskar, Welcome to another episode of editorial. I wish you all my dear viewers a great blessed healthy new year.
[00:00:13] Now a lot of people yesterday wrote to me saying that new year na kuch positive se baath karo yaar.
[00:00:21] Dego bhai, I can't lie, I will not lie. So positive positive I will not start with. As always let us be realistic.
[00:00:31] My today's topic is also something which is a real topic, which is a problem that we Indians are facing.
[00:00:39] And that has got nothing to do with Mandir and Masjid. The problem is 37% of landless are still waiting for Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana.
[00:00:49] They are still not got their houses. 37%. Roti Kapada or Makaan is what I am going to stick to all my life and I will continue doing it.
[00:01:01] Let's get right into the show. So like I said 37% of landless under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana has not yet got their houses.
[00:01:16] What I am saying is in 2016 when Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana was launched, the center has sanctioned 5.73 lakh houses.
[00:01:27] 5.73 lakh houses for families not owning land parcel out of which only 63% odd people have got it.
[00:01:39] 37% still hasn't got their Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana.
[00:01:44] Now whatever, their houses which Pradhan Mantri was supposed to give them. Now there are a lot of stories about the houses that people have got.
[00:01:51] But let's not get there. Chalo, let us assume that they have got their houses. Let us be positive.
[00:01:55] But the fact remains that what about the balance? 37%. You see Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana was supposed to end by 2024 which is extended to now 2029.
[00:02:09] So what should have been done by now? Everything should have been done and dusted and everybody should have been staying in their houses with the Pradhan Mantri's photograph in it.
[00:02:19] Everybody should have stayed in their houses right now but they are not. 37% have still not got it.
[00:02:25] 37% have still not got it and that question still remains.
[00:02:29] Now let us also be very clear. It is not just center's fault. Let us also be very clear about that. Because the problem is also landlessness.
[00:02:38] That is also a very major problem and this problem is supposed to be sorted out by the state governments. State governments is also moving very slowly here.
[00:02:50] So the fact remains that ultimately the government has not provided it to us. That is the long and short of the story.
[00:02:57] The center promised the state is dragging their feet. So the point is that end of the day people have not got it.
[00:03:05] Now according to the standing committee of rural development and Panchayat Raj says that the issue of landlessness is affecting the progress of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana and may also cause delay in the completion of the target.
[00:03:22] In this context the committee recommended that the department of rural development that to ensure land to landless people for their own houses.
[00:03:31] A policy be framed in public interest with a specified period so that land must be allotted to identified persons to expedite a timely construction of houses in the respective states under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana.
[00:03:45] Okay, let's go. You got the problem. The problem is land. There is no land. The state government says we don't have land. We don't have land.
[00:03:53] Where will you make a building? Where will you make a house? Okay, let's go.
[00:03:59] Problems happen. I am not disputing that. But tell me and this is the question I have been asking for the last five years.
[00:04:06] How do you launch a program without working on your back end? On your infrastructure? On your preparation?
[00:04:18] You go and launch a project without absolutely zero preparation?
[00:04:23] One fine day we see a name, make a logo and then put the photograph and call a program and launch the program.
[00:04:31] How will it happen to see you? Is it how we do it? This is how demonetization happened.
[00:04:37] This is how GST, I believe, has been launched. We launch program first and then we wonder how to do it?
[00:04:45] So if you knew that there was no land available, why did you launch a 573,000 house project?
[00:04:55] 573,000 houses, there is no land. Didn't you know this? If you didn't know this, then what kind of an administration are you?
[00:05:04] You don't know, land is not there. There is no feedback. There is no discussion. There is no drawing board. There is no planning.
[00:05:13] Are you kidding me? Is this how it is? All the central government blaming the state government, state government putting the ball back to central government.
[00:05:23] I am asking all the governments. Now let me say even the state governments, they blame Tamil Nadu and Karnataka as one of the governments that is not kind of delivering land.
[00:05:35] The point is, even the state government, let me ask you, when the central government was launching such plans, what was the state government doing?
[00:05:43] Why did the state government not raise a red flag and say, we don't have land? Where did you? When the Pradhan Mantri is announcing it, why didn't you put your red flag and say, we don't have it?
[00:05:55] Or, okay, at that point in time, those were governments which were very pro-NDA or was part of NDA.
[00:06:02] Let's assume that that also is true. Even then, when new governments came in, why couldn't they raise the flag and say, we don't have land?
[00:06:12] Why are we saying it now? See, the point is, two governments have an issue, central in the state. Who suffers? People suffer. Here, two governments doesn't know land, but promise almost to them.
[00:06:24] Who suffers? People suffer. Ultimately, people suffer. This is the point I wanted to raise.
[00:06:30] Another important issue. Again, like I said, I am not going to talk about Mandir Masjid, but these are questions that will haunt us, that will haunt our future, that will haunt our future generations.
[00:06:41] And if you don't talk about this and we don't take this into consideration and do something about it, our future will curse us.
[00:06:48] You see, 57% schools have functional computers. 53% have internet access. In this world of IT, and we are supposed to be the cool dudes in IT,
[00:07:00] Google's CEO, Indian. Microsoft's CEO, Indian. But what is it? In India, 57% schools, only half the schools only have computers. And 53% have internet.
[00:07:14] The other schools have no computers, no internet. What world are we living in? What world are we living in? Let me take you through some other statistics.
[00:07:23] While 90% of schools are equipped with basic amenities such as electricity and gender specific toilets. Only 90%, a little over 90% schools have got gender specific toilets and basic amenities. 57.2% of schools have functional computers and 53.9% of schools have internet and 52% are equipped with RAMs.
[00:07:45] So, this is the situation of our schools and infrastructure. What is more bothering, what is more bothering is that the total enrollment of students has dropped over a crore.
[00:07:59] Enrollments of students has dropped over a crore in 2023-24 as compared to the previous year.
[00:08:08] Please, when you are looking at that television and all your newspaper and when you are talking about why the Hindu pride is being questioned or the Muslim pride is being questioned or all of this when you are talking, no, please think about it.
[00:08:20] 1 crore children are not going to school. That's the future of our country. That is what is going to take our country to the next level. That is the progress. That is the single largest element of progress for our country.
[00:08:36] 1 crore children are not enrolled for schools. Remember, 2018-2019, the total enrollment of schools were 26.2 crores which increased by 1.6% in 2019-2020 and crossed 26.45 crores and increased more than 42 lakh students.
[00:08:54] The enrollment fell in 2020-21 as compared to 2019-20 and in 2021-22 as compared to 2021, total enrollment increased by 0.76%.
[00:09:06] In 2022-23, there was a drop of enrollment with 25.18 crores students being registered and there was further fall in 2023-24 to 24.8 crores.
[00:09:19] The total enrollment dropped by 6%. Nearly 1.22 crores students. The drop has happened from 2022. It has increased in 2023-24. It's absolutely imperative for us as a country to ensure that this fall in enrollment is arrested, it's sealed.
[00:09:44] You see, you should not allow this to happen.
[00:09:50] We will go back, not ahead.
[00:09:53] This is where we should put our one-time education and all that together.
[00:10:00] This is where we should focus on. This is what our Prime Minister should be coming and talking in our rallies. Our ministers should be coming. Our chief ministers should be coming.
[00:10:08] Regardless of whichever party, Baba, I am not going to be party specific. Any party, this is what our ministers and Prime Ministers and Union Ministers should be coming and talking to people.
[00:10:18] How are you?
[00:10:18] You should go to school.
[00:10:19] Our children should be coming and talking.
[00:10:19] You should go to school, dad.
[00:10:21] We should go to school.
[00:10:21] You should go to school, man.
[00:10:23] You should go to school.
[00:10:24] These are not things that really actually matter today.
[00:10:29] Children should do.
[00:10:30] Children should do.
[00:10:31] People should do.
[00:10:33] The food should do.
[00:10:34] You
[00:10:47] Your student enrollment is coming down and your budgets are not sufficient.
[00:10:51] This is my question and I'm going to continue to ask these questions.
[00:10:57] 2024, 2025, 2026, till such time I can sit in this chair, I can look at that camera, I can talk to you.
[00:11:04] I'm going to ask these questions.
[00:11:05] Like I always say, regardless of whether people watch me, people don't watch me, people share this, people don't share this, people subscribe, people don't subscribe.
[00:11:13] Doesn't matter.
[00:11:14] These are issues that concerns you and me.
[00:11:16] These are issues that will concern our future generation and those are issues that I'm going to raise.
[00:11:21] Day after day, night after night, till I see you tomorrow at 10pm with something similar.
[00:11:28] Namaskar.
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